Terps Are Cooked in 15 Minutes
Mountaineers' 28-Point Start Flattens U-Md.: West Virginia 45, Maryland 24

By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006

MORGANTOWN W.Va., Sept. 14 -- Steve Slaton clearly announced his intentions earlier this week, saying that he would show the Maryland football program that it made a huge mistake when it pulled his scholarship offer.

On Thursday night, the West Virginia sophomore needed just 15 minutes to drive home the point he had waited more than a year to deliver: If you can't join 'em, beat 'em.

Slaton rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, including an electrifying 38-yard, reverse-field dash. Slaton turned a helpless Maryland defense into a captive audience in his revenge romp, finishing with 195 yards on 21 carries to lead No. 5 West Virginia to a 45-24 victory in front of 60,513 at a raucous Mountaineer Field.

"I used it as a lot of motivation," said Slaton, who came to West Virginia after being spurned by the Terrapins. "I feel like it's the first play all over again, I feel like I'm full of energy every play."

Slaton staked West Virginia to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter, helped by a slew of Maryland miscues. Slaton, who didn't play in his team's 31-19 victory at Byrd Stadium last season, played late into the fourth quarter, with the game already out of reach.

"I hope he wins the Heisman," Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen said after watching the Terrapins (2-1) wilt under the spotlight of the lights and cameras.

The Terps came to Morgantown eyeing an upset that could potentially jump-start the program. Instead, they took an embarrassing loss that exposed a defense that at times was incapable of staying with the Mountaineers.

For the third straight game, the Terps' defense missed a bevy of open-field tackles, an unforgivable sin against a potent Mountaineers offense that took advantage by scoring on six of its first-half possessions to build a 38-10 halftime lead.

"We lost to a very good football team in a very tough environment on national television," Friedgen said. "It's embarrassing, but you've got to be able to come back from these things and get better."

Offensively, Maryland reverted to its sloppy ways of last season, turning over the ball four times in the first half alone. The Terps finished with five turnovers as quarterback Sam Hollenbach threw two interceptions and the Terps fumbled three times.

Two of the fumbles came on Maryland kickoff returns, and both led to West Virginia touchdowns.

"You can't beat real good teams like that, and they proved it," said Hollenbach, who finished 24 for 45 for 211 yards. "They took the turnovers, and they made us pay for them. You take those turnovers out of the game, and then you might have a different ballgame."

The Terps also allowed a 96-yard touchdown return by Darius Reynaud just before halftime.

But the score proved to be gratuitous, as the rout started soon after West Virginia (3-0) touched the football.

Slaton scored on a 38-yard run to put the Mountaineers up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Terps paid a heavy price for a piece of attempted trickery. Josh Wilson fielded the kick and tried to hand off to Darrius Heyward-Bey on the reverse. But Heyward-Bey fumbled the exchange, giving the Mountaineers the ball at the Terps 11-yard line.

"We were just trying to make something happen, and it backfired on us," Wilson said.

Quarterback Pat White connected with Reynaud for a five-yard touchdown score to make it 14-0 less than five minutes into the game and before the Maryland offense had touched the ball.

Slaton quickly added another blow, his most impressive of the night.

The running back took a handoff and started toward the left side of the line. With Maryland's Conrad Bolston and David Holloway waiting, Slaton reversed course and broke several tackles as he raced down the sideline for a 37-yard touchdown that gave West Virginia a 21-0 lead with 2 minutes 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

One play after Hollenbach threw his first interception, Slaton broke a 52-yard run to put the Mountaineers on the Terps 2. Slaton carried again but fumbled. The ball bounced into the end zone, where tight end Brad Palmer pounced on it to put West Virginia up 28-0 with 1:05 left in the first quarter.

Hollenbach and the offense answered by converting two fourth-down attempts on the way to a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped by Hollenbach's six-yard pass to a wide open Joey Haynos to make it 28-7 with 9:26 left in the second quarter. But after the teams traded field goals, Reynaud's return made it clear that there would be no upset.

Friedgen tried to take some solace in the Terps' second-half effort, one that saw Lance Ball score on an 11-yard touchdown and Hollenbach connect with Isaiah Williams for a 35-yard score in the fourth.

"It's easy to give up in that situation, but they didn't do that," Friedgen said.

But by then, Slaton had long since proven his point.

And the Terrapins' chance to make a statement had long since passed.